Hot trends

1. Working Women
According to The Media Audit, affluent working women with family incomes of $75,000 or more are growing in number, and 94.3 percent access the internet during an average month. Most are considered heavy users of the internet, while heavy use of radio, television, newspapers and direct mail has all declined within this group. Alter your media spending to place greater emphasis online to reach affluent working women.

2. Grads
Move your marketing dollars into online media with the quickness. The internet is the primary source of media and entertainment among college grads. Grads top-planned purchases are professional clothing, airline tickets, insurance and household items according to the “Y2M: Collage Graduate Survey”. Nearly 80 percent of participants in the survey are online purchasers, making this group ideal candidates for your online marketing.

3. Word-Of-Mouth
Lucid Marketing's study, "U.S. Adults: Word of Mouth Communications," found that women were more likely than men to share a positive experience with a business or recommend a product or service. Full-time employees made substantially more daily contacts than those not in the workforce; and people with household earnings of more than $100,000 were more likely to ‘talk’ than those earning less.

5. New Populations
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Asian populations have grown as much as 23 percent and Hispanic populations make up nearly 10 percent of the total population of Washington State. The growth in foreign-born populations is expected to rise at a rapid rate over the next decade, making the importance of marketing to these groups more essential. Keep in mind for the future—there will be a need for designers and marketers that specialize in foreign fonts and graphics.

5. Online Yellow Pages
According to a study from the Kelsey group, marketers targeting younger demographics should transition away from the printed edition of the Yellow Pages. Only 28 percent of teens said they would turn to print first to find a local business, product, or service, while 47 percent said their first choice would be an online directory search. 44 percent of respondents between the ages and 18 and 34 favored print Yellow Pages.

6. Multimarketing for Multitaskers
Today consumers are frequently involved in more than one form of media at any one time. 70 percent of web users, for instance, watch TV occasionally while online, according to BIGresearch’s “Simultaneous Media Survey.” It also found that nearly 65 percent watch TV while they read, and 51 percent of radio listeners read the newspaper while listening. The rise in multitasking among consumers mandates an integrated media approach.

7. Newspapers
Finally, newspapers are getting it! This past year, many of the websites of major newspapers have become the number-one portals in their geographic markets and are drawing a younger and more affluent readership. According to recent Scarborough Research, the audience that reads a newspaper’s website but not its print version accounts for 15 percent of the Integrated Newspaper Audience. They’re successfully attracting more upscale 18-to-34-year-old readers to their sites. If you're an advertiser in the printed edition of a newspaper, you can negotiate to run online as well to reach these new readers.

8. Web Conferencing
As business travel has become more challenging due to increased security, advance check-in times and transportation delays, online workshops and meetings are becoming more popular. Participants can watch your presentation on their computer. This trend is still relatively new but is very quickly gaining attention.

9. Consumers Research Online
Online searches will continue to have a profound impact on your sales throughout 2007 and beyond. When asked by Bigreasearch “Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey”, how often consumers researched products online before buying them in person or in a store--87 percent of nearly 7,500 respondents said they frequently performed online research prior to contact with a seller. And comScore research showed that 63 percent of searchers completed a purchase in offline retail stores following their online research. So many companies are still facing web denial and are missing out on a great opportunity to really connect with their customer. Whether you sell online, off-line or both, you need a great website with deep, persuasive content that keeps your customers shopping on your site or sends them to your store.

10. Local Search
Aim for higher rankings in the top search engines. 62 percent of Google searchers click on a link within the first page of results, according to a report from iProspect and Jupiter Research. To win higher rankings in natural search results, you can optimize your site by using the keyword phrases your best prospects will be searching for throughout all the pages of your site, in your page descriptions and in your web metatags. You should also secure links to your site from other high-ranking websites. To guarantee you'll turn up in the top search results, invest in paid search campaigns. They are an affordable way to attract more attention online.